A blog about Cyber Security & Compliance

Month

February 2016

Tripwire 2016 Energy Survey: Physical Damage

Tripwire’s 2016 energy study was conducted by Dimensional Research on the cyber security challenges faced by organizations in the energy sector. The study was carried out in November 2015, and respondents included over 150 IT professionals in the energy, utilities, and oil and gas industries.

“After hundreds of years protecting our nation’s geographic borders, it is sobering to note that possibly the most vulnerable frontier happens to be the infrastructure that runs the largest companies in the country.”

Rheka Shenoy, VP and general manager of industrial IT cyber security for Belden

Does your organization have the ability to accurately track all the threats targeting your OT networks?

Does your organization have the ability to accurately track all the threats targeting your OT networks?

In your opinion, is your organization a target for a cyberattack that will cause physical damage?

Is your organization a potential target for a nation-state cyberattack?

The incredibly high percentages of these responses underscores the need for these industries to take material steps to improve cyber security. These threats are not going away. They are getting worse. We’ve already seen the reality of these responses in the Ukraine mere months after this survey was completed. There can be no doubt that there is a physical safety risk from cyber attacks targeting the energy industry today. While the situation may seem dire, in many cases there are well understood best practices that can be deployed to materially reduce the risk of successful cyber attacks.